At this period in my life, I am living year to year in different apartment complexes; thus is the nature of a college life. And yet, I seem to ALWAYS have something to weld. My parents, god bless their souls, live in the same town as I, so I have access to their garage, but the dryer in there runs on 110. We have no 220v in the garage. And I have already asked my dad if I can wire a breaker up, but he is stubborn and won't let me wire a 220, which is his perogative.

I really want to get my welding skills back, I was certifiable in stick in high school. So it pretty much comes down to the choice of no welder or a 110 welder (for now).

Also, my choice is based on welder type: I have an 18 guage sheetmetal body on the Jeep, but I also have heavy things to weld, such as axle tabs. I was leaning toward MIG (full gas, I have a 5gal tank sitting in the garage rated for Argon-CO2), but I think a buzzbox stick welder might suit me better? I guess I should ask first of all, do any buzzboxes come in 110? I don't think I have ever seen them. Second, would it even be worth it to buy one, because much of my work will be on sheetmetal pieces? Obviously, it would burn though sheetmetal, but could handle axle-tabs more sufficiently. My neighbor has a wire-fed welder, but it's flux-core and ****ty.

Help me out, I am confused

Additionally, if you could direct me toward a good 110 welder for between 300 and 400, that would be great. I know Lincoln and Hobart stand above the rest in terms of quality, but I can't necessarily afford one (except the basic Lincoln MIG)

I have a Lincoln 140 I got from Lowes that is 110 and really not a bad welder. Anything over 3/16" and I start loosing confidence in it though. If you only have 110 I think it could fit your bill. I am getting a Hobart 187 in the next couple months to replace it.

I am "blue" bias on this subject. I would point you toward the millermatic 140 autoset. My 180 has worked perfectly in the past month or so of welding. BUT, I see good reviews about the lincoln 140 all the time.

__________________

Congenital Heart Disease is a reality for me, BOTH of my children have it. Please read up and become aware for future generations

Id go mig, IMO its more versitile. The lincoln 140 is nice, you could also go with somthing like a lincoln SP 135.. that machine burns great, and has a lot of heat settings so ou can really dial it in. You could just keep a spool of some flux core handy and you could burn 1/4in no problem.. even with gas, if you prep the joint properly you could burn 1/4in in a single pass.

I like my Hobart 140 for the money. I've been very happy with it. I go to a friends house for the heavy stuff. He's got a new Miller Gen/Welder on a trailer. Now that thing is nice, but I don't have a few grand for a machine like his.

I had a Lincoln 135 before and loved it. It did everything up to 3/16" without issues for me. I got a Lincoln 175 for a smoking deal ($400 NIB) and planned to put an outlet in my garage but since I rent I didn't want the liability.

I just sold my 175 for $550 and ordered a Lincoln 140 for $540 and can't wait to get burning again. I have a bunch of projects I need to get done for me and others.

I have a Miller 130 that is 9-10 years old. I have done up to 1/4" thick with it and have been very satisfied with the results. Anything thicker and even with a bigger welder, I do multiple passes. Clean metal, quality wire and the proper gas can play a big part of any machines capabilities. I think any of the big 3 (Miller, Lincoln, Hobart) would be a good machine. Stay away from the China Junk. I've had multiple friends try to say it was just as good when they bought them to only spend the $$$ on one of the others later on.